Prawn Bafat/ Bafad (A Bombay East Indian Gravy)

Is this a Goan recipe? Well not exactly but it does call to remember that Goa and Bombay aka Mumbai, were heavily influenced by Portuguese cuisine...a fusion of sorts. Our Goan brethren promoted their style of cuisine openly, and hence their versions gained prominence. Moving on, Bombay East Indians have 2-versions of this bafat.  So not getting lost in the semantics of it all, here is our simpler version of Bafat.

 
Ingredients
300gms shrimp cleaned and deveined
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 large onion sliced
4-5 cloves garlic finely chopped
1" ginger chopped fine
2-3 green chilies diced fine
½ tsp peppercorns
1 tbsp coriander powder
½ cup coconut milk / 1/2 coconut freshly ground
1 cup water
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method
1. Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan. I used extra virgin coconut oil.

3. Add diced ginger, garlic, chilies and peppercorns and fry until the raw smell of ginger and garlic disappear.
4. Now add onions and fry until translucent.
5. Add the coriander powder and continue to fry.

6. Next, toss in the prawns marinated in turmeric. Stir for a minute.
7. To this, add the coconut milk, vinegar, and water. Cook until prawns done.
8. Add salt to taste
9. Serve hot.

P.S Use a medium flame when cooking as we do not want the chopped ingredients to burn.

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Note: This recipe is adapted from the original The East Indian Cookery Book (Revised reprint 1996) published by The Bombay East Indian Association